U.S. Men's National Team roster has distinct MLS flavor (w/video)

U.S. men's soccer players, including Landon Donovan, right, and Kyle Beckerman, second from left, run during training in preparation for the World Cup on Wednesday, May 21, 2014, in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

BY PHIL BARBER

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

May 24, 2014, 10:59PM

05/24/2014

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No one knows how Klinsmann's team will hold up in a brutal knockout-round group that also includes European powers Germany and Portugal, but one thing is clear: The fate of the USMNT is tightly bound with that of Major League Soccer, the North American league now in its 19th season.

Is U.S. league worthy?

Ten of the 23 players on the national team are currently with MLS clubs, including Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), veteran forward Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), midfielder Michael Bradley (Toronto FC) and local favorite Chris Wondolowski, a forward who grew up in Danville and now plays for the San Jose Earthquakes.

Most analysts figured on more MLS-ers than that, but the harshest cuts Thursday included veteran midfielder Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union) and, most newsworthy of all, forward Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), America's all-time leading scorer in international play.

Still, this remains an MLS-heavy team. The question is whether the domestic league is strong enough to prepare players for World Cup competition, which will include the top athletes from the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Germany's Bundesliga and other top-tier national organizations.

The Americans sound certain that MLS is worthy.

"I think we are all very excited about what happens with MLS," Klinsmann said. "Every year there's another step forward, another step forward. The league is growing, not only obviously on the infrastructure side, the financial side, but also on the level-of-play side. ... They're getting better prepared, they're understanding better what the comparison to Europe is, or South America. I think that learning curve will continue. It still has to go some years down the road, but I think we're just improving."

Four years ago, Edu was under contract with the Scottish club Rangers F.C. when he made the 23-man U.S. team for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

"And this time I'm in MLS, and I felt just as good as I did then," he said the day before he was cut. "I feel like the level is high enough to where I felt good so far this week in training. I feel like I've been able to maintain my standards and compete at a high level, and that's due to my playing in MLS."

Some cite Klinsmann's personal biases for the failure of Donovan and Edu to make the final roster, but it may have as much to do with the rising stature of American soccer. The U.S. national team has had more MLS players in previous years — including 16 in 1998, and 11 in both 2002 and 2006. But while this year's team will be hard pressed to go further than the 2002 squad that made it to the quarterfinals, most consider this year's squad to be deeper and more talented.

"Now you have $6 million-$8 million players on the team, so obviously your expectations are gonna change," said defender DaMarcus Beasley, who is seeking to get out of his contract with Puebla of Mexico's Primera Division and may wind up back in MLS. "We have a lot of guys playing at big clubs. It's different from when I first came up. It's tough to say we're better than what we were back then, because I think 2002 was a great team. ... But from the media, from fans, even from myself, we expect more."

Klinsmann's decision to part ways with Donovan and Edu might, in fact, signal a changing of the guard in American soccer. Those who survived the cuts include 18-year-old Julian Green, 20-year-old DeAndre Yedlin and 21-year-old John Brooks (Green and Brooks both hold dual American and German citizenship).

Edu, who spent a year and a half with Toronto FC, then played in Scotland, England and Turkey before returning to MLS this year, said the standard of play in the North American league clearly is better now than it was during his first stint.

Klinsmann agrees.

"The players know that they are not judged on if they play on MLS or Mexico or in Europe," he said. "They are judged by us, depending on how we see them, and how we evaluate them as a coaching staff. But it's exciting times for all of us involved in soccer in the United States that we have a league that is really catching up."

Sport comes of age

For at least a generation, American soccer fans have waited for their country to catch up to the rest of the world. We have great athletes, vast resources and a vibrant youth-soccer culture. Why can't we compete for a World Cup title?

MLS does seem to be more popular than ever. The league had growth in attendance every year from 2004 (about 2.33 million) to 2012 (6.07 million) before backtracking slightly in 2013. The numbers are up again this season.

The hope now is that a strong World Cup showing will have a boomerang effect on MLS soccer, proving to Americans that their domestic league is nearly on par with the sport's best, and attracting a wave of young home-grown talent to make it even better.

"I think anytime there's a World Cup, it's gonna put a focus on soccer for this country," Beckerman said. "And if there's guys that are playing on MLS it can only help boost the sport in general, and also our league."

All that's standing in the way of that reality are Ghana, Germany, Portugal and nearly 9,000 miles of travel within the sprawling nation of Brazil. Let the games begin.

No one knows how Klinsmann's team will hold up in a brutal knockout-round group that also includes European powers Germany and Portugal, but one thing is clear: The fate of the USMNT is tightly bound with that of Major League Soccer, the North American league now in its 19th season.

Is U.S. league worthy?

Ten of the 23 players on the national team are currently with MLS clubs, including Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), veteran forward Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), midfielder Michael Bradley (Toronto FC) and local favorite Chris Wondolowski, a forward who grew up in Danville and now plays for the San Jose Earthquakes.

Most analysts figured on more MLS-ers than that, but the harshest cuts Thursday included veteran midfielder Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union) and, most newsworthy of all, forward Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), America's all-time leading scorer in international play.

Still, this remains an MLS-heavy team. The question is whether the domestic league is strong enough to prepare players for World Cup competition, which will include the top athletes from the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Germany's Bundesliga and other top-tier national organizations.

The Americans sound certain that MLS is worthy.

"I think we are all very excited about what happens with MLS," Klinsmann said. "Every year there's another step forward, another step forward. The league is growing, not only obviously on the infrastructure side, the financial side, but also on the level-of-play side. ... They're getting better prepared, they're understanding better what the comparison to Europe is, or South America. I think that learning curve will continue. It still has to go some years down the road, but I think we're just improving."

Four years ago, Edu was under contract with the Scottish club Rangers F.C. when he made the 23-man U.S. team for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

"And this time I'm in MLS, and I felt just as good as I did then," he said the day before he was cut. "I feel like the level is high enough to where I felt good so far this week in training. I feel like I've been able to maintain my standards and compete at a high level, and that's due to my playing in MLS."

A new generation

Some cite Klinsmann's personal biases for the failure of Donovan and Edu to make the final roster, but it may have as much to do with the rising stature of American soccer. The U.S. national team has had more MLS players in previous years — including 16 in 1998, and 11 in both 2002 and 2006. But while this year's team will be hard pressed to go further than the 2002 squad that made it to the quarterfinals, most consider this year's squad to be deeper and more talented.

"Now you have $6 million-$8 million players on the team, so obviously your expectations are gonna change," said defender DaMarcus Beasley, who is seeking to get out of his contract with Puebla of Mexico's Primera Division and may wind up back in MLS. "We have a lot of guys playing at big clubs. It's different from when I first came up. It's tough to say we're better than what we were back then, because I think 2002 was a great team. ... But from the media, from fans, even from myself, we expect more."

Klinsmann's decision to part ways with Donovan and Edu might, in fact, signal a changing of the guard in American soccer. Those who survived the cuts include 18-year-old Julian Green, 20-year-old DeAndre Yedlin and 21-year-old John Brooks (Green and Brooks both hold dual American and German citizenship).

Edu, who spent a year and a half with Toronto FC, then played in Scotland, England and Turkey before returning to MLS this year, said the standard of play in the North American league clearly is better now than it was during his first stint.

Klinsmann agrees.

"The players know that they are not judged on if they play on MLS or Mexico or in Europe," he said. "They are judged by us, depending on how we see them, and how we evaluate them as a coaching staff. But it's exciting times for all of us involved in soccer in the United States that we have a league that is really catching up."

Sport comes of age

For at least a generation, American soccer fans have waited for their country to catch up to the rest of the world. We have great athletes, vast resources and a vibrant youth-soccer culture. Why can't we compete for a World Cup title?

MLS does seem to be more popular than ever. The league had growth in attendance every year from 2004 (about 2.33 million) to 2012 (6.07 million) before backtracking slightly in 2013. The numbers are up again this season.

The hope now is that a strong World Cup showing will have a boomerang effect on MLS soccer, proving to Americans that their domestic league is nearly on par with the sport's best, and attracting a wave of young home-grown talent to make it even better.

"I think anytime there's a World Cup, it's gonna put a focus on soccer for this country," Beckerman said. "And if there's guys that are playing on MLS it can only help boost the sport in general, and also our league."

All that's standing in the way of that reality are Ghana, Germany, Portugal and nearly 9,000 miles of travel within the sprawling nation of Brazil. Let the games begin.